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The Vagabonds

Between 1915 and 1924, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs, calling themselves the Four Vagabonds, embarked on a series of summer camping trips. The idea was initiated in 1914 when Ford and Burroughs visited Edison in Florida and toured the Everglades. The notion blossomed the next year when Ford, Edison and Firestone were in California for the Panama-Pacific Exposition. They visited Luther Burbank and then drove from Riverside to San Diego.

In 1916, Edison invited Ford, Burroughs and Harvey Firestone to journey through the New England Adirondacks and Green Mountains; Ford, however, was unable to join the group. In 1918, Ford, Edison, Firestone, his son Harvey, Burroughs, and Robert DeLoach of the Armour Company, caravanned through the mountains of West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia. Subsequent trips were made in 1919 to the Adirondacks and New England; in 1920 to John Burroughs' home and cabin retreat into the Catskill Mountains; in 1921 to West Virginia and northern Michigan; and in 1923 to northern Michigan. In 1924, the group journeyed to northern Michigan by train, gathered again at Henry and Clara Ford's Wayside Inn in Massachusetts, and visited President Coolidge at his home in Vermont.

The trips were well organized and equipped. There were several heavy passenger cars and vans to carry the travelers, household staff, and equipment; Ford Motor Company photographers also accompanied the group.

The 1919 trip involved fifty vehicles, including two designed by Ford: a kitchen camping car with a gasoline stove and built-in icebox presided over by a cook and a heavy touring car mounted on a truck chassis with compartments for tents, cots, chairs, electric lights, etc. On later trips, there was a huge, folding round table equipped with a lazy susan that seated twenty. After 1924, the growing fame of the campers brought too much public attention and the trips were discontinued.

Henry Ford during a "Vagabonds" Camping Trip, 1919

Henry Ford during a "Vagabonds" Camping Trip, 1919

Artifact

Photographic print

Summary

Calling themselves the Vagabonds, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs made yearly camping trips between 1916 and 1924. This photograph of Henry Ford is from their 1919 excursion, when the friends visited New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. The next year, their wives would join, rendering the trips decidedly more formal and less adventurous.

Henry Ford on a "Vagabonds" Camping Trip, 1919

Henry Ford on a "Vagabonds" Camping Trip, 1919

Artifact

Photographic print

Summary

Calling themselves the Vagabonds, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs made yearly camping trips between 1916 and 1924. This photograph of Henry Ford is from their 1919 excursion, when the friends visited New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. The next year, their wives would join, rendering the trips decidedly more formal and less adventurous.

Artifact

Photographic print

Summary

Between 1916 and 1924, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs, calling themselves the Vagabonds, embarked on a series of camping trips. This image, from 1921, shows the Vagabonds (minus Burroughs, who had died earlier in the year) dining with family and friends near Hagerstown, Maryland. One of their friends at the table is President Warren G. Harding.

The "Vagabonds" during a Camping Trip, 1921

The "Vagabonds" during a Camping Trip, 1921

Artifact

Photographic print

Summary

Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Harvey Firestone, part of the self-proclaimed Vagabonds, are shown shaving and washing up during their 1921 camping trip. They are joined by Bishop William Anderson and President Harding. Newsmen and photographers documented and reported the Vagabonds' every move. It's hard to tell how many "informal" activities were staged for reporters.

The "Vagabonds" Camping Trip Caravan of Trucks and Automobiles, 1921

The "Vagabonds" Camping Trip Caravan of Trucks and Automobiles, 1921

Artifact

Photographic print

Summary

Between 1916 and 1924, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone and John Burroughs embarked on a series of camping trips. They called themselves the Vagabonds, but they camped in style. Numerous support staff set up and took down camp, cooked, took photographs, and maintained the cars and equipment trucks. This photograph shows the Vagabonds' automotive camping caravan in 1921.

President Harding Dining with the "Vagabonds" during a Camping Trip, 1921

President Harding Dining with the "Vagabonds" during a Camping Trip, 1921

Artifact

Photographic print

Summary

Between 1916 and 1924, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs, calling themselves the Vagabonds, embarked on a series of camping trips. This image, from 1921, shows the Vagabonds (minus Burroughs, who had died earlier in the year) dining with family and friends near Hagerstown, Maryland. One of their friends at the table is President Warren G. Harding.

Henry Ford and the "Vagabonds" Visiting President Coolidge's Farm, 1924

Henry Ford and the "Vagabonds" Visiting President Coolidge's Farm, 1924

Artifact

Photographic print

Date Made

1924

Summary

President Calvin Coolidge, second from left, hosted the Vagabonds at his boyhood home in Vermont in 1924. The Vagabonds -- Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Harvey Firestone -- took yearly camping trips from 1916 to 1924. President Coolidge is seen in this photograph presenting Ford with a sap bucket.

The "Vagabonds" with Family and Friends during a Camping Trip, 1920

The "Vagabonds" with Family and Friends during a Camping Trip, 1920

Artifact

Photographic print

Summary

Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs made yearly camping trips between 1916 and 1924. They called themselves the Vagabonds. In 1920 they traveled to New York's Catskill Mountains. This was the first outing to include wives. The trips became decidedly more formal and less adventurous when wives came along. And Edison himself confessed that the fun was gone.

Thomas Edison during a "Vagabonds" Camping Trip, 1923

Thomas Edison during a "Vagabonds" Camping Trip, 1923

Artifact

Photographic print

Summary

Between 1916 and 1924, industrialists Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Harvey Firestone, and naturalist John Burroughs, took several camping trips together. This group, which called itself the Vagabonds, was informally led by Edison, who selected routes and served as navigator. This photograph shows him relaxing during a 1923 trip.

The "Vagabonds" on a Camping Trip, Lead Mine, West Virginia, 1918

The "Vagabonds" on a Camping Trip, Lead Mine, West Virginia, 1918

Artifact

Photographic print

Summary

Thomas Edison, John Burroughs, Henry Ford, and Harvey Firestone pose on a waterwheel at old Evans Mill near Lead Mine, West Virginia. The photograph was taken in August 1918. The group called themselves Vagabonds and made a series of trips between 1916 and 1924. On these trips they communed with nature, explored their personal interests and acted like boys again.